Lee Seok-yeon resigns after one year, saying his philosophy differed from the government’s

Lee Seok-yeon, one of the figures associated with President Lee Jae Myung’s efforts to build an inclusive administration, is leaving the Presidential Committee on National Cohesion after about a year. He said he had realized that his philosophy differed substantially from the government’s thinking on national unity and that he would now step down in line with the president’s wishes.

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I learned that the government’s thinking and philosophy on national unity differ greatly from mine. I now wish to step down in accordance with the president’s wishes.

In a Facebook post, Lee said he hoped the president would reflect at least some of the candid advice he had offered, sometimes despite the risk of causing offense. Speaking by telephone to Dong-A Ilbo, Lee said the president and his close aides appeared to regard him as an obstacle to pushing government affairs forward in a disciplined, unified way. Whether he had actually been an obstacle, he said, would be judged two or three years from now.

The circumstances of his departure have prompted different interpretations. Lee took office on Sept. 10 last year, and his appointment letter lists his term’s end date as Sept. 9. A presidential decree amended last December extended appointed committee members’ terms from one year to two. The committee said, however, that the chair, who is designated by the president, serves a one-year term.

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If I have one wish for the president, it is that he reflect at least some of the candid advice I offered, sometimes despite the risk of causing offense, in the course of governing.

Lee offered a different reading. He said the chair also serves as a committee member under the rules, making the correct term two years. On Aug. 31, he conveyed to senior presidential secretary Hong Ik-pyo that he would prepare to leave if the president did not express an intention to reappoint him. On Sept. 2, he said, the presidential office informed him that Lee Jae Myung did not intend to extend his tenure.

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It seems that President Lee and his aides viewed me as an obstacle to the unified pursuit of state affairs. Whether I was an obstacle will be judged in two or three years.

A conservative-leaning lawyer, Lee previously headed the Korea Legislation Research Institute? No. He served as minister of government legislation during the Lee Myung-bak administration. Since becoming committee chair, he had criticized proposals including the abolition of prosecutors’ investigative powers. Last month, he urged President Lee to leave the Democratic Party and return as “the president of the people, not the president of the Democratic Party.” Lee said he had made the suggestion out of loyalty, but that some people found it intolerable. Other figures appointed as part of the government’s inclusion drive have also resigned or lost their nominations.

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Return as the president of the people, not the president of the Democratic Party.